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Pitfalls in the modeling of forward-looking price setting and investment decisions

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  • Tommy Sveen
  • Lutz Weinke

Abstract

The present paper makes progress in explaining the role of capital for inflation and output dynamics. We followWoodford (2003, Ch. 5) in assuming Calvo pricing combined with a convex capital adjustment cost at the firm level. Our main result is that capital accumulation affects inflation dynamics primarily through its impact on the marginal cost. This mechanism is much simpler than the one implied by the analysis in Woodford's text. The reason is that his analysis suffers from a conceptual mistake, as we show. The latter obscures the economic mechanism through which capital affects inflation and output dynamics in the Calvo model, as discussed in Woodford (2004).

Suggested Citation

  • Tommy Sveen & Lutz Weinke, 2004. "Pitfalls in the modeling of forward-looking price setting and investment decisions," Economics Working Papers 773, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
    • Handle: RePEc:upf:upfgen:773
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    3. Tommy Sveen & Lutz Weinke, 2004. "Firm-specific investment, sticky prices and the Taylor principle," Economics Working Papers 780, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
    4. David Altig & Lawrence Christiano & Martin Eichenbaum & Jesper Linde, 2011. "Firm-Specific Capital, Nominal Rigidities and the Business Cycle," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 14(2), pages 225-247, April.
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    Cited by:

    1. David Altig & Lawrence Christiano & Martin Eichenbaum & Jesper Linde, 2011. "Firm-Specific Capital, Nominal Rigidities and the Business Cycle," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 14(2), pages 225-247, April.
    2. Jan-Oliver Menz & Lena Vogel, 2009. "A Detailed Derivation of the Sticky Price and Sticky Information New Keynesian DSGE Model," Macroeconomics and Finance Series 200902, University of Hamburg, Department of Socioeconomics.
    3. Carlsson, Mikael & Westermark, Andreas, 2011. "The New Keynesian Phillips Curve and staggered price and wage determination in a model with firm-specific labor," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 579-603, April.
    4. Joao Madeira, 2012. "Evaluating the Role of Firm-Specific Capital in New Keynesian models," Discussion Papers 1204, University of Exeter, Department of Economics.
    5. Sveen, Tommy & Weinke, Lutz, 2007. "Lumpy investment, sticky prices, and the monetary transmission mechanism," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(Supplemen), pages 23-36, September.
    6. Nolan, Charles & Thoenissen, Christoph, 2008. "Labour markets and firm-specific capital in New Keynesian general equilibrium models," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 817-843, September.
    7. Luca Bindelli, 2005. "Systematic monetary policy and persistence," Cahiers de Recherches Economiques du Département d'économie 05.07, Université de Lausanne, Faculté des HEC, Département d’économie.
    8. John Duffy & Wei Xiao, 2011. "Investment and Monetary Policy: Learning and Determinacy of Equilibrium," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 43(5), pages 959-992, August.
    9. Nolan, Charles & Thoenissen, Christoph, 2008. "Labour markets and firm-specific capital in New Keynesian general equilibrium models," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 817-843, September.
    10. Marcela Meirelles Aurelio, 2006. "Targeting inflation and the fiscal balance : what is the optimal policy mix?," Research Working Paper RWP 06-07, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.
    11. Tommy Sveen & Lutz Weinke, 2009. "Firm-Specific Capital and Welfare," International Journal of Central Banking, International Journal of Central Banking, vol. 5(2), pages 147-179, June.
    12. Michael Woodford, 2005. "Firm-Specific Capital and the New Keynesian Phillips Curve," International Journal of Central Banking, International Journal of Central Banking, vol. 1(2), September.
    13. Tommy Sveen & Lutz Weinke, 2004. "Firm-specific investment, sticky prices and the Taylor principle," Economics Working Papers 780, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
    14. Tommy Sveen & Lutz Weinke, 2004. "New Perspectives on Capital and Sticky Prices," Working Paper 2004/03, Norges Bank.
    15. Casares, Miguel & McCallum, Bennett T., 2006. "An optimizing IS-LM framework with endogenous investment," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 621-644, December.
    16. Tommy Sveen & Lutz Weinke, 2005. "Is lumpy investment really irrelevant for the business cycle?," Working Paper 2005/6, Norges Bank.
    17. Sveen, Tommy & Weinke, Lutz, 2005. "New perspectives on capital, sticky prices, and the Taylor principle," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 123(1), pages 21-39, July.
    18. Orlando Gomes & Diana A. Mendes & Vivaldo M. Mendes & José Sousa Ramos, 2006. "Endogenous Cycles in Optimal Monetary Policywith a Nonlinear Phillips Curve," Working Papers Series 1 ercwp1508, ISCTE-IUL, Business Research Unit (BRU-IUL).
    19. Sveen, Tommy & Weinke, Lutz, 2013. "The Taylor principle in a medium-scale macroeconomic model," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 37(12), pages 3034-3043.
    20. Casares, Miguel, 2006. "Time-to-build, monetary shocks, and aggregate fluctuations," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(6), pages 1161-1176, September.
    21. Keith Kuester & Goethe University, 2006. "Real Price and Wage Rigidities in a Model with Matching Frictions," Computing in Economics and Finance 2006 152, Society for Computational Economics.
    22. Giuli, Francesco & Tancioni, Massimiliano, 2012. "Real rigidities, productivity improvements and investment dynamics," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 100-118.
    23. Sveen, Tommy & Weinke, Lutz, 2007. "Firm-specific capital, nominal rigidities, and the Taylor principle," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 136(1), pages 729-737, September.
    24. Andreas Hornstein & Alexander L. Wolman, 2005. "Trend inflation, firm-specific capital, and sticky prices," Economic Quarterly, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, vol. 91(Fall), pages 57-83.
    25. Francesco Giuli & Massimiliano Tancioni, 2009. "Firm-Specific Capital, Productivity Shocks and Investment Dynamics," Working Papers in Public Economics 120, Department of Economics and Law, Sapienza University of Roma.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Sticky prices; investments;

    JEL classification:

    • E22 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Investment; Capital; Intangible Capital; Capacity
    • E31 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Price Level; Inflation; Deflation

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